


Ripples

by merlin07



Category: David Tennant - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-19 15:35:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 17,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7367428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merlin07/pseuds/merlin07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sequel to Shadow Dance</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

David felt odd being back in his house again. It was almost like the TARDIS had become his real home, not here. Everything looked familiar as he walked through the sitting room and into the kitchen, but he no longer felt he belonged there. That feeling, coupled with the heavy air of foreboding he had been labouring under since they had left The Shadow Proclamation, made it seem like he was moving under water.

He checked the answer phone for messages, and then brewed a pot of tea for The Doctor. The Time Lord was immersed in the newspaper and barely acknowledged David as he tsked over some news item or another. Then started a pot of coffee for himself.

David took his suitcase upstairs, emptying out the dirty clothes and putting them into a hamper, and selecting some clean ones refilled the bag, zipping it closed.

When he came back down to the kitchen to do some washing up The Doctor looked frozen in place, the mug of tea halfway to his mouth, as he stared at the paper.

"Everything all right?" David asked taking the seat opposite him.

"Hmm?" The Doctor looked at him a moment, as if he had never seen him before, then quickly recovered. Looking at his hand and seeing the mug there, he finished the act of taking a sip of tea, "oh yes, I was just catching up on the news."

"You seem a bit distracted," David continued, "did you read something that was upsetting?"

The Doctor looked surprised that he was still holding the newspaper in one hand, "no, nothing like that," he attempted a smile, but failed miserably.

David gave him a moment to collect his thoughts by pouring himself some coffee, then ventured, "so what's bothering you?"

The Doctor sighed, leaning back and running his hands through his hair, "it's probably nothing. I am just a bit tired."

"Let me start then. Since we left The Shadow Proclamation, I've been feeling like some things about to happen, something potentially not good," David confessed.

"You too?" The Doctor's eyes got wide, "I keep forgetting about that little bit of Time Lord in you. I am beginning to wonder if more of that is coming out the longer you stay with me. Maybe it's the TARDIS or being near a full blooded Time Lord but you are growing in strength..."

The Doctor leaned forward, "but yes, I've been ignoring it, hoping it was just residual psychic energy from the recent events. Just now, sitting still, it hit me harder than ever."

"What is going on?"

"I don't actually know just yet," The Doctor admitted, "but if you are picking up on it too, it's very powerful."

Before David could say anything else The Doctor switched off the concern like someone turning off the light and with an almost forced joviality asked, "now! Where is it you want to go?"

"Shouldn't you be trying to figure out what's causing this feeling?" David shot back.

"No," The Doctor shook his head, "every time I promise to take you wherever you want to go, something interrupts it! But no more! This is probably nothing, or perhaps nothing major, or nothing major just yet. Either way it can wait."

"The TARDIS has been dropping hints like filling my room up with violets," David started, "but I know you can't stay there for very long because the energy's wrong...."

"She's been doing what?" The Doctor straightened up.

"Every time I go into the bedroom on the TARDIS, the room has been filled with vases, bowls and pretty much every sort of place you could put flowers," David explained, "the place smells like a flower garden."

The Doctor stared at him unblinkingly, so he continued, "I'm not as in tune with her as you are but I get the feeling there's a method to all this."

"She can be meddlesome at times," The Doctor nodded, "she likes things to be in harmony, peaceful, she knows you have some unresolved issues with Violet and the meta....I mean John, and she doesn't like conflict, especially if she feels it could be resolved. You know how females can be."

David snorted at that last comment, "you better not say that around a human one, you'd get your face slapped."

"I've had that happen more than once! Usually by someone's mother," The Doctor smiled, "anyway the point is; the feelings you and I are experiencing may not have anything to do with what the TARDIS has been decorating your room with, it may be completely unrelated."

"Agreed, but I keep thinking I need to revisit them sometime soon," David replied, "if not this time then sometime soonish."

The Doctor brightened, "you've decided, then?"

David smiled at the childlike enthusiasm on The Doctor's face, "yes, I'd like to see what Earth would be like in the future. I may be mixed blood, but I doubt I'll live as long as you do," he explained. The Doctor's smile faded a bit at that, but he still waited until David finished, "so I'd say maybe a hundred or two hundred years into the future."

"Why limit yourself to only a couple hundred years? That's a mere blink of the eye," The Doctor laughed.

"To you, maybe," David sighed, "to me that's years beyond my natural life span."

The Doctor thought about it, "it must be so frustrating knowing that."

"Sometimes, but it does make you do the best with the time you have," David smiled wistfully.

The Doctor drained his tea cup and stood up, "are you ready then?" he asked grinning widely, "on to the future!" he gestured at the TARDIS in the back garden.

"I think I am," David laughed, picking up his suitcase, "let's go."


	2. Chapter 2

The TARDIS landed in what appeared to be a pretty ordinary alley, the wind whipped bits of paper around and the familiar sight of wheelie bins greeted them as they left the time capsule.

"Well this hasn't changed much," David laughed, "where or when are we?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to reply but a mechanical voice piped up, "the city is London, the year is 2310," it offered in a sugary sweet approximation of a woman's voice.

"What was that?" David asked.

"I am Avril," the voice continued.

The Doctor pointed at a small monitor set in one wall of the alley, "it's the future of what you would know as the internet. You do not need a laptop or mobile phone with data access now, these terminals are available everywhere. It's how mankind is 'wired' now."

David frowned at the panel, "so you just ask a question and it answers it for you?"

"Yes, I do," the voice agreed.

"It's sort of a hyped up google, if you want to think of it that way," The Doctor pointed, "and actually you don't have to ask aloud, it's got a low level psychic ability it can read your mind."

The Doctor peered down the alley way, "stay here a moment," he gestured at David, "I need to get my bearings," then he walked to the edge of the buildings and disappeared from sight.

David looked over at the monitor, "wonder how I am remembered, if at all?" he thought to himself.

The voice started chattering, "David Tennant, also known as David McDonald, born 18 April 1971. Accomplished Shakespearean actor, best known for his portrayal of The Doctor in the iconic series Doctor Who from 2005-2010."

That made David smile, nice to know three hundred years on he was going to be associated with a role he had loved portraying. But the voice wasn't quite finished.

"Disappeared while filming "The Decoy Bride" in the summer of 2010, body never recovered. Declared dead 18 August 2014..."

That make his heart stop in his chest, "repeat that?" he gasped.

"Disappeared while filming "The Decoy Bride" in the summer of 2010, body never recovered. Declared dead 18 August 2014..."

The Doctor had rejoined him as that last bit of information issued forth, he frowned at the machine, "are you sure of that?"

David gulped, his face white as a sheet, making the freckles that dotted his cheeks and nose stand out under the paleness, "is that true?"

The monitor brought up archived newspaper clippings, and as they flashed by The Doctor put on his glasses and seemed to read each one. When the slide show stopped he straightened up, "that's wrong, you are supposed to live out a long, full and happy life, and to a ripe old age."

"That's not supposed to happen," The Doctor assured him, "something's messing with your future."

Looking at David who was swaying on his feet, breathing heavily, he was concerned the actor would pass out, so he got in close to him, "I promise you I'll figure this out and sort it."

"That's only a month from now, or a month from back then," David almost whispered.

"Listen to me," The Doctor took him by the shoulders forcing David to look into his eyes, "I will fix this, you will be fine. I swear."

He took David by the hand and led him out of the alley, "I need to get to a central data location, not one of these kiosks, they're just for 'sound bites' like, um, I know, Wikipedia! They won't have enough information, once I find out what happened I can reverse it."

David stopped at the mouth of the alley way, "how can you change the future without causing damage?"

"That's not your destined future," The Doctor answered, "it's been altered. I know your future, and this isn't it."

"It is now," David protested.

"It is now," The Doctor agreed, "but it shouldn't be, it's wrong, and it needs to be set straight. If you disappear in a month's time, so many events that need you in them, or are caused by you, all the..." he stopped realising he was divulging too much information, "let's just say you are important, and if you disappear the future's going to be different in a very bad way."

"How am I important?" David asked, confused.

"I honestly wish I could tell you, but I can't. If I tell you too much, the potential for spoilers is too great! You'll just have to take my word for it." The Doctor sighed, "now let's find a data centre!"


	3. Chapter 3

David was so caught up with worry that he didn't realise they'd reached the data centre until The Doctor sat him down in a chair in front of a large screen set in a table. The Doctor took the chair next to him. Then looking around to make sure no one saw him, he used the sonic screwdriver to get past the screen asking for payment.

"Now then," The Doctor leaned over the monitor, "biographical information please for David Tennant, birth-name David McDonald. Birth-date 18 April 1971."

David closed his eyes, fighting the rising panic as pages upon pages of articles flickered by so quickly it hurt his head trying to keep up with the information. The Doctor, however, seemed to be impatient at the perceived slowness and would tap his fingers on the table in between the images appearing on the screen.

After an hour had passed The Doctor sat back with a groan, removed his glasses and rubbed his eyes, "this makes no sense," he mumbled.   
"What doesn't?" David prompted after a moment.

"One article says you disappear, never to be seen again in a month's time as we heard in the alley way. Another one has you dying at a very advanced age leaving behind children, many grandchildren and a handful of great-grandchildren. Yet another archive has a death certificate for you, dying at birth, or shortly thereafter. And all variations in between," The Doctor waved his hands, "and all of them have sources backed up by documentation. It's like your future is in flux. Something is manipulating your time line, but why?"

He leaned in and looked into David's eyes, "it's like one of those board games, where one role of the dice decides your fate."

"But this isn't a game," David protested.

"No it isn't," The Doctor agreed, "but someone is playing at something, and the stakes are a bit more than losing a turn or going back two spaces."

"How can they all be true?"

"Every choice we make affects our future. If you overslept one morning, missing your usual bus and that bus crashes..." The Doctor explained, "but it's usually the individual's choices. Now the fact that there seemed to be more than one outcome for you, and it's so heavily documented...."

"Aside from all that, why in the world would anyone care about me in three hundred years?" David asked quietly.

The Doctor smiled sadly, "that is something you'll find out eventually, but that may never happen if things keep changing."

"I obviously didn't die at birth," David chose one of the articles on the screen and read the death certificate, "I'm still here."

"No, you didn't but the child that you were substituted for, the real son of your host family, did," The Doctor explained haltingly, "so if Violet and John hadn't switched you for that baby, the original David, then that would have been the death notice's reason for existence."

"This article has you dying at the age of nine," The Doctor touched the screen and the death notices from the same newspaper as before but nine years from the first one appeared.

"I had a pretty severe bout of appendicitis when I was around that age," David explained pulling up his shirt to point to the scar near his hip, "I was really ill for a few weeks, but again, I survived that."

The Doctor sat back, "you've had brushes with death, like most mortals. Near misses. Life is like a complicated dance that eventually death leads..." he was interrupted in his musings as a beep emitted from the monitor and the words, "new search results found," flashed at them.

The Doctor touched the screen and a fresh batch of articles queued up, "this is just getting stranger by the minute," the Time Lord muttered.

"What now?" David asked peering at the screen. In this article the accompanying picture had a much older version of himself, hair completely silver, accepting an award for bringing peace between two warring factions of aliens on another world, "that's obviously fake," he tapped the glass.

The Doctor opened his mouth and then snapped it shut again obviously rethinking what he was going to say. Then he straightened up, "let's download this information and I'll run it through the TARDIS' computer and see if there is a pattern."

With that he pulled a small round object from his suit pocket, bent down under the table and inserted the disc into the machine. He sat back up and tapped the screen and the images flashed by even faster, ending moments later with the words, "download complete." The disc ejected and The Doctor took it and put it in his pocket.

The Doctor reached over to shut off the computer but not before the headline, "The Universe Saved from The Time Lord Curse," caught David's eye, and the photo under the banner showed a burnt out shell of the TARDIS what was clearly a dead body draped in a tarp. The man smiling for the camera was obviously himself, only slightly older than he was today.

The Doctor saw what David was now staring at, his eyes wide with fear, "don't take that too seriously," The Time Lord pulled him away from the table, "in the future you are supposed to have, that does not happen."

"I would never harm you!" David protested.

"Not as you stand today," The Doctor agreed, "but if we can't get this all worked out?"

"I swear I wouldn't!" David didn't move from the spot.

The Doctor smiled, "come on, the sooner we get this back to the TARDIS," he held up the small disc, "the sooner this will get resolved."


	4. Chapter 4

David hesitated as they approached the TARDIS, stopping just in front of the time capsule, "maybe you should take me back home."

"Why would I do that?" The Doctor asked eyebrows rose as he opened the doors.

"That last article...." David gestured at the wall where the screen was now showing scenes of a sunrise while treacle-y music played in the back ground, "said I was going to kill you. And I don't think you're safe with me."

"And another said you died at the age of nine," The Doctor shrugged, "so don't believe everything you read." Before David could reply he continued, "with the glaring exception of The Master, I don't travel with people I do not trust with my very life, and I see no reason to rethink that with you."

David followed The Doctor into the TARDIS, looking around the console room like he was seeing it for the first time. The Doctor watched him out of the corner of his eye, a slight frown on his face, studying him closely.

When David turned to face him The Doctor's expression flipped quickly back to a smile, "now time to analyse this data!" with that he pulled the disc out of his pocket and slid it into a slot next to the monitor.

Not really wanting to know what else the disc would reveal, David wandered around the TARDIS hoping to find something that would distract him. He found himself in a library, bigger than any one he had ever seen. Rows of book cases filled the room, seeming to go on forever. Unaware he was doing it he headed towards the section marked "Biographies" but before he could reach it he was suddenly back in the main console room on one of the upper ramps.

David looked around in confusion, "how did that happen?" he wondered aloud.

The Doctor looked up at him from the monitor, "she does that. I told you the TARDIS could be meddlesome. If she thought you were going somewhere you shouldn't she'll change her internal dimensions and put you out of harm's way."

"I was just in the library," David protested.

"Then you were likely heading to a section you shouldn't, the library is full of information that you can't know yet," The Doctor explained. Then he bent his head back to the monitor, "come look at this!"

David reluctantly joined The Doctor at the screen, "what is it I'm looking at?" he asked as the swirling characters scrolled up.

"Hmm... let me translate it," The Doctor typed on the keyboard and then the swirls became recognisable letters. He pointed to one grid, "all these articles have the same archive date. The originals are all over the map, but the scanning or whatever they did to get it out there and published all are the same day."

"That seems a bit unlikely," The Doctor frowned at the screen, "I mean the copyright dates should be more in tuned with the timing of the..." he stopped and sniffed, "do you smell smoke?"

David took a deep breath, "now that you mention it, yes."

The Doctor sniffed again and then took off at a dead run up one of the ramps. David caught up with him moments later. The smoke was pouring out from under the door of David's bedroom, he reached for the door knob and waiting for The Doctor's nod of approval opened the door.

The two men stared at the sight before them. The vases and bowls of violets were on fire, "now that's something you don't see every day," The Doctor murmured.

"They're in water!" David proclaimed, "how can they be burning?"

The Doctor went into the wash room and came out with a damp flannel, and a glass of water. He set about putting the various vessels of burning flowers out before replying, "I think that's a not-too-subtle hint," he glared at the wall of the room, "something had gotten the TARDIS worked up, she's been trying to tell you something. And since you didn't catch on to it fast enough, she's upped the ante."

The ventilation fans kicked on and the smoke cleared from the room The Doctor wiped his stinging eyes and then sat on the edge of the bed clearly lost in thought.

David sat down next to him, "what's going on?"

The Doctor blinked a few times before replying, "remember you saying you felt like we should go visit the alternate Earth? Maybe that's not such a bad idea."


	5. Chapter 5

He woke up alone. Which was strange because it felt like he should have someone sleeping at his side, but he couldn’t recall that person’s name. He closed his eyes again, saw a vague flash of a woman smiling down at him, her hazel eyes dancing with mischief but just as her name came to his mind it was gone just as quickly.

He rose, stretching his long limbs with a yawn. As he put his arms down he stared at his thin fingers. He thought he saw a patch of skin, much lighter than the surrounding area, like something had prevented it from tanning like the rest of him. A ring? He puzzled. Why would he be wearing a ring and why wasn’t he wearing one now? Where did it go if he had been in possession of one?

He looked around the room; a leather bracelet with flashing lights was hanging from the lamp on the other side of the bed, not sure what it was he decided to leave it there, until he came fully awake.

Still feeling like he was missing something he opened the closet door. He saw only his own things in it; the other side was empty, devoid even of hangers. Even as he stood staring at the blank wall he expected to see women’s clothing, brightly coloured blouses, rows of jeans, multicoloured shoes, but aside from lint and dust there was nothing.

Pulling on his dressing gown he left the room and headed downstairs, into the kitchen, in search of coffee.

\-----

The Doctor jumped back, “what?” he shouted at the monitor.

David had been pacing around the console room but quickly rejoined the Time Lord, “anything wrong?”

“I was just reading this article and in the middle of it the information changed!” The Doctor smacked the screen with his knuckles, “this isn’t hooked into the central database anymore this is just downloaded information, how can it just change?”

“Maybe you read it wrong?” David offered.

“No, the screen flickered and it rewrote crucial bits of information,” The Doctor insisted, “I am not just imagining things!”

Just as he said that the monitor blinked again and the accompanying photo to the article changed, instead of a picture of David the picture was now of a gleaming space ship, seemingly armed to the teeth, getting ready to launch. The caption read, “The Royal Space Corp ship ‘Endeavour’ prepares to join the fight.”

The Doctor quickly blocked David’s view of the screen, “this is um, can you go sit over there for a moment?”

“Why?” David asked, stepping back from the console.

“This concerns something that you shouldn’t know about ahead of time, it could potentially damage the future you are supposed to have,” The Doctor explained haltingly, “if you see this now, it could change how you deal with the events when they come up and it has to happen just as it did or will, oh you know what I mean!”

“No, actually I don’t,” David replied pulling on his earlobe distractedly, “but I can take a hint.” He took a seat on the railing just behind The Doctor, “this is massively frustrating…”

The Doctor straightened up, and blocking the view of the monitor with his body he turned to face David, “I know and I’m sorry, but some of those articles are your personal future, the right one, the one that has always been. If you have knowledge of them before hand you may make a decision that changes the outcome. Not in minor ways, but history changing, universe changing ways. I can’t allow that.”

“Can I get a hint?” David asked hopefully.

“Well,” The Doctor thought about it for a moment, “a small one, you already met one of the future participants and you had a good relationship with them from the beginning. That is what will bring you to this, um, very important event.”

“Cryptic,” David sighed.

“Has to be,” The Doctor nodded, “but something is dismantling that very chain of events that leads up to that, methodically going back on your personal time line and changing it. We got to the information at the data centre while it being rewritten, and it is still going on.”

“But I’m still here and I’m still me,” David protested.

“For how long?” The Doctor whispered his voice nearly inaudible, then he turned back around to the console, still blocking David’s view, “we have to get this figured out, fast!”

Just then the TARDIS’ engines started to whine loudly, the whole ship shook and tilted alarmingly, “we’re in the alternate’s Earth’s atmosphere,” The Doctor announced over the din, “we don’t have long once we land we need to find Violet and John quickly and see if we can find out what’s going on.”


	6. Chapter 6

The TARDIS landed with her usual thump, jarring her occupants but both kept their footing. The Doctor grabbed his coat from the strut as he ran past opening the door, “I just love family reunions,” he laughed gesturing for David to follow him out.

As soon as David left the TARDIS he felt exceedingly dizzy, sick to his stomach and like every bone in his body had turned to jelly. He fell to the ground, unable to maintain his balance. The Doctor stopped in mid stride and ran back to him, “are you OK?”

He saw David’s deathly white face and heard his breath coming in laboured gasps and instantly knew the answer was, no he was not. He bent down, scooping David off the ground like a child and took him back into the TARDIS, setting him down on the jump seat.

Once inside his colour returned and David recovered almost immediately, if not a bit shaken by the experience, “what in the hell was that all about?” he asked pulling himself upright.

The Doctor sat next to him, “something came over you the minute you moved out of the TARDIS’ protection,” he gestured towards the door, “I have a theory…but I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry it will involve you having to step out again. Just one foot this time.”

David got to his feet, followed closely by The Doctor; “just one foot?” he asked opening the doors.

“Yes, make sure most of you is still in the TARDIS,” The Doctor cautioned.

Balancing in the doorway, David set his left foot down on the ground. The sick feeling he had felt earlier came back, luckily not as strong as before. He quickly pulled his foot back in.

The Doctor had been standing behind David ready to catch him if he fell again. He walked past the open doors, planting both feet firmly on the ground, “as I thought,” he murmured, “it’s not affecting me at all.”

“Care to explain?” David asked standing back in the TARDIS’ sheltering embrace.

“As I said earlier, everything is in flux,” The Doctor started, “things, and now I suspect people, are being changed or plucked out of time in your personal time line. I think that the TARDIS picked up on that and that’s why she’s been filling your room with violets. Something’s happened to her…not the TARDIS, I mean Violet.”

“So inside the TARDIS you’re safe from the events going on in time, but outside it…” The Doctor stopped, trying to find the least scary choice of words.

“I no longer exist,” David filled in for him.

“Exactly!” The Doctor shouted so loud he scared some roosting birds from their nests in the nearby trees. He craned his neck to watch them fly off before continuing, “if she never existed, you never existed.”

“What about John?” David asked after a moment.

“I feel him, so he’s still around but he’s fading too,” The Doctor replied, touching his temples with his fingers, “his life is in danger…”

“So I’m stuck inside the TARDIS?”

“For now,” The Doctor shrugged, “I’ll reverse it, I promise, but for now you must stay inside her or…” he let his words trail off.

The Doctor closed the TARDIS’ doors, locking them and approached the house. He raised a hand to knock but stopped as he caught the sight of a pair of legs stretched out on the floor of the hallway, with one leg bent awkwardly, just inside the doorway to the kitchen as he peered through the glass. The worst part of it, he noted as he took the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket, was that the visible foot was becoming transparent.

Once he got the door open he half lifted, half dragged the prone figure until he was slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran back to the TARDIS. Halfway there his knees were threatening to buckle under the other man’s weight but he gained the console room before he set the unconscious man down.

As soon as David saw who The Doctor had brought into the time capsule he ran over to help. The Doctor took off his long coat and placed it over the limp form, “go to the med bay!” he ordered David, “in the first cupboard on the left there’s a small blue pouch, inside there should be one syringe and two green pills. Bring them, and hurry up!”

David took off without really knowing which direction the med bay was in, but the TARDIS was being helpful and as he neared the right room the door automatically swung open. Before he could approach it a drawer slid out of the cupboard. Looking into the drawer and seeing the blue pouch he smiled, “thanks,” before scooping it up and running back to the console room.

The Doctor was still kneeling down next to the unresponsive man, so David handed him the package, “what is that?” he asked as The Doctor opened the pouch.

“This,” he held up the shot, “is like the human equivalent of adrenaline, like they give people who are having a severe allergic reaction, he’s shutting down!” The Doctor jabbed the syringe into John’s thigh.

Then he handed one of the pills to David, “I can’t give him a full dose of this treatment, he’s not full blooded Time Lord, so I need you to break that pill in half and help me get it down his throat!”

David snapped the pill and then got down next to The Doctor, “what do you need me to do?”

“Hold his head up,” The Doctor commanded, taking the pill from David, he pried open John’s mouth and stuck the pill into his throat.

“Now what?” David asked.

Before The Doctor could speak, John sat bolt upright with a gasp, “are you trying to kill me?” he asked breathlessly, his voice shaky.

“I think he just saved your life,” David replied pointing to The Doctor.

John got to his feet, appearing to be vibrating from his head to his feet, his whole body shaking, “this is worse that the time I tried to out drink Violet at Starbucks, I did five double cappuccinos in a row,” his teeth were chattering.

The Doctor mouthed, “too much adrenaline,” at David before he rose to his feet as well, he draped his coat over John’s thin shoulders and bundled him in it.

John got himself under control before attempting to speak again, “Violet…” he started with a frown.

“She’s missing,” David nodded.

“Yes, I woke up and she was gone…” John continued, concentrating, “why didn’t I know that until just now?”

The Doctor filled John in on the events that led up the visit, concluding with, “inside the TARDIS the effects are negated.”

John, for his part was silent during the explanation, aside from his teeth chattering when he didn’t remember to clamp his jaw shut. Waiting until he was sure The Doctor was done talking he asked, “how are we going to get Violet back?”

The Doctor looked at him, then at David, then at nothing in particular somewhere in the general direction of the ceiling, “I don’t know….” he admitted, letting a long breath out, “but I promise you I’ll think of something!”


	7. Chapter 7

“When is the last time you remember seeing her?” The Doctor asked not meeting the other's eyes.

John thought about it, “it’s odd, I know who she is, what she means to me, and I know what she looks like but I can’t recall anything we’ve done together recently…”

The Doctor sighed, “you’ll get those memories back, the longer you stay here,” he gestured around the TARDIS, “I hope.”

“The flowers started appearing in my room a week or so ago,” David offered.

“That’s right!” The Doctor got to his feet pacing around the console room, “the flowers…”

“What about the flowers?” John asked, turning to David with a frown.

“According to him,” David pointed at the prowling Time Lord, “the TARDIS somehow sensed something was wrong with Violet, and she was trying to tell me that. Her way of doing it was to fill my room with violets. I thought she was nagging me to make peace with you both; our last meeting didn’t exactly go well. Sorry about that.”

John acknowledged the apology with a nod, but let David continue uninterrupted.

“Then the flowers caught fire, I think the TARDIS decided I was not catching on fast enough, or the situation had grown more serious, I can’t be sure…” David finished.

Fighting the urge to grab The Doctor to stop his pacing, John took a deep breath; “if the TARDIS knew about this, why didn’t she tell you?” he addressed what was now the back of the Time Lord.

The Doctor stop still for a moment, but didn't turn around. “I don’t know. She can see time-lines, lifelines maybe she felt David’s connection to Violet was stronger than mine. The TARDIS feel his lineage, but I don’t think she quite understood that he isn’t as connected to her as I am.”

“It feels like longer,” John mused, “but if you say that events are being altered even as we speak I could have seen her just hours ago.”

“And you look different,” David spoke up, “it hasn’t been that long since I saw you last but your hair is a lot longer and your eyes…”

“He’s right,” The Doctor leaned in close to examine John, “I think if we had arrived just minutes later you would have faded from existence.”

“What about my eyes?” John asked.

The Doctor reached under a section of the grating and pulled up a small red velvet covered box, opening it, he removed a hand mirror and held it up to John’s face.

John looked at his reflection, taking a moment to realise what he was seeing, he touched the image, then his own face, “how the hell?” he exclaimed, his now bright green eyes widening in surprise.

Without a word The Doctor lowered the mirror and started to set some coordinates on the console, “we need to go back to the beginning, and find out how far back history has been dismantled.”

“The beginning?” David prompted.

“His appearance,” The Doctor gestured at John, “changed, so that means his history has already been altered. He’s always looked just like me, now he’s taken on some of Deidre’s characteristics, so she’s still around, for now. If he never existed, he and Violet would never have married, never had you….”

“Got it,” David cut him off, “where is the beginning?”

“We need to start with when Violet first met me, then we’ll work forward from there.”

John smiled, sadly, “I wish I could see that.”

“You can’t!” The Doctor insisted, “even if you could step out of the TARDIS at this time, you can’t meet her ahead of when you were supposed to, even I won’t be able to be seen, I just need to find out when things started unravelling!”

David was taken aback by The Doctor almost shouting at the other man, but John seemed unaffected by the vehemence of the tone. He made a mental note to talk to John once The Doctor was out of earshot.

The console room was deadly quiet; the only sound was the time rotor and the ever present humming of the engines. The TARDIS’ occupants were all lost in their own thoughts, hesitant to voice their concerns, as if confessing their worries they would then become reality.

\-----------

A long finger, tipped in an ornate metal decoration tapped a monitor trying to get the image to clear up. The readings were not pleasing; the work was being halted by the meddling Time Lord!

The sigh at this filled the room, “I said we should have taken him out of the equation first!” the being roared, “without him nothing can stop us!”

Standing the figure adjusted his robes, and readied to put an end to this interference once and for all. The future depended on it!


	8. Chapter 8

After The Doctor left the TARDIS David sat down to talk to John, “how are you holding up?” he asked the other man, noting that his eyes were starting to return to their normal colour.

“I’m all right...” John replied dismissively, “in fact….”

“I’m always all right,” David finished for him, “that’s Time Lord Code for ‘I’m messed up’. I know the drill, so tell me, how are you really?”

“Still a bit confused,” John admitted with a sigh, “I know The Doctor explained it but even with our shared history, I am not feeling very enlightened.”

Both men sat quietly for a moment, then David ventured, “I’m really sorry I acted like such a jerk our last meeting.”

John smiled, “you were never a jerk. It was a lot to process after all you had been through.”

“Thanks,” David smiled back and they lapsed into silence again.

“There’s a lot you want to ask me. I can see that in your eyes. I’m here, now, and ready to talk,” John offered, “looks like we have a lot of time on our hands, why not go for it?”

“I don’t know where to start,” David admitted with a laugh. He thought for a minute, “do you miss this?” he gestured around the TARDIS.

“At first I did,” John nodded, “but those were not my memories or really my life. Once I got settled into my ‘real’ life, I came to appreciate the more mundane things. Like not getting shot at repeatedly,” he chuckled at this and took a deep breath.

“Violet saved me,” he continued, “if she hadn’t been there, I probably would have gone insane. It was touch and go at first. I wasn’t my own person yet, and yet I wasn’t much more than a pale copy of the original. Through her patience and love, I got through it….” John stopped staring into space, his eyes full of pain, “I can’t imagine living my life without her.”

“You won’t have to,” David assured him, “I know The Doctor will get her back.”

“Of course,” John agreed quickly, sounding a bit doubtful.

“That wasn’t very convincing,” David replied, “you don’t think he can?”

“You’re forgetting I know him. Probably better than he knows himself,” John explained, “he’s just as lost as we are, but he’s got a lot more bravado than either of us. He is just as unsure as you or I, but would never admit it.”

“He has to figure this out; people I care about are disappearing, and all because of me!” David almost shouted, then he calmed down, “sorry.”

“The events are surrounding you, but not because of you. Whoever is doing this, is obviously not doing it with your blessing,” John soothed.

“One of the possible futures has me killing The Doctor…” David almost whispered.

“Do you remember those grainy black and white photos of the Loch Ness monster, taken in the 1960s?” John asked, leaning in closer to David.

“Yes,” David replied a bit bewildered by this sudden change of subject.

“And how they turned out to be fake?” John prompted.

“Right…”

“They can do clever things with graphics programmes, anyone with a scanner and a computer can make a passable approximation of a newspaper article,” John smiled. Then he grew serious, “I don’t doubt some of what you saw was real as far as that goes, but I wouldn’t stake my life on all of them being true.”

David was almost feeling better about himself until John added, “and if you do kill The Doctor in the future, maybe it’s for a good reason.”

\-----------

The Doctor was being extra careful, he had landed the TARDIS in a disused and neglected garden at the back of an abandoned office block, and walked to where he had first met Violet what seemed like ages ago.

He waited until a crowd of young men, fresh from the pub, came stumbling towards the flat Violet grew up in before coming out of his hiding place. The raised voices echoed off the buildings, forming a wall of sound that made The Doctor’s ears ring. The sheer mass of the quite obviously drunk men formed a tidal wave that carried him almost to Violet’s door before he could separate himself from them.

Pulling out his stethoscope The Doctor crept up to the front wall and placed it against the cement block. He smiled as he heard Violet and her mother arguing about whose turn it was to do the washing up.

He was still pressed against the wall when a rather portly woman squeezed out of a nearby flat and stared at him, arms crossed, and a suspicious expression on her face, “can I help you mate?” she growled.

“Termite inspector!” The Doctor quickly lied, “just checking for any of those nasty little chewers…” he gestured with his fingers, approximating a biting motion.

“That’s brick,” the woman informed him.

The Doctor straightened up and knocked on the wall a few times with his knuckles, “so it is! Good! No termites then!” and with that he took off at a fast walk away from the woman and back to the TARDIS.


	9. Chapter 9

“It just seems odd to think of you as my father when you seem to be the same age as I am…” David was addressing John, the two men sitting quite close together on one of the railings.

“Technically, I’m really only six years old,” John laughed, “born as an adult like Athena springing from Zeus’ head. Not a typical way to join the living, unsettling at first but I’m OK with it now.”

"If you had kept me, how old would I be now?" David asked.

"Three almost four," John laughed.

David let out a long breath at that and shook his head, then recovering he queried, “does it bother you that you never got the experience of being a parent?”

John thought about that for a moment, “if you’re asking if I ever wondered if I did the right thing? The answer is, look in the mirror. You turned out wonderfully, I am proud of you. I don’t think you would have been the person you are today if we had kept you. You wouldn’t have been safe.”

“And now someone or something’s trying to undo all that you set in motion,” David sighed returning back to the present, “The Doctor won’t tell me, but supposedly in my ‘destined future’ I do something important, do you know what that is?”

John opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by the arrival of The Doctor, “don’t tell him that!” he snapped.

“I wasn’t going to,” John shot back defensively, “I’m not an idiot,” with that he got to his feet, fists clenched standing toe to toe with The Doctor.

“What did you find out?” David asked, trying to break the tension that suddenly filled the console room.

The Doctor didn’t break his gaze from John’s, not giving any ground, “Violet’s here, on this day. I didn’t see her, but I heard her. They wouldn’t just snatch her out of time at random points, they would pull her out of significant events in her life, that effect her and I, and by default, him…” he gestured at the man still standing centimetres from him, “so we go on to the next juncture.”

John stepped back, his posture still angry but his tone more reasonable, “and that would be?”

The Doctor chose not to answer instead he moved away from John’s hostile gaze and went over to the controls, and started setting various coordinates.

“Where are we going?” David stepped between The Doctor and the controls.

“We’ve established that Violet has already met me at the right time, now we need to go to when she left the first time,” The Doctor explained as he gently shifted David out of his way.

“Why didn’t you just tell him,” David leaned in towards The Doctor, nodding towards John, “instead of upsetting him more?”

“Do you want to tell him or should I?” John snorted.

The Doctor’s back went rigid but he didn’t look up from the controls.

David looked from one to the other with confusion, “would someone tell me?” he pleaded.

“I guess you haven’t noticed,” John smiled sadly, “if he can avoid talking to me directly he does. It’s like if he ignores me I’ll just go away.”

“Very dramatic,” The Doctor sighed, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re the drama queen!” John’s voice was raised, “I’m here so deal with it!”

David resisted the urge to smack both of them by counting to ten before speaking, “I don’t think this is going to help us get Violet back, you need to set aside your differences. This in-fighting isn’t productive we all need to work together.”

Two pairs of eyes turned to him, John’s still blazing, The Doctor’s looking tired. Both men stared at him with surprise for a moment. Then they looked at each other, “the voice of reason,” John smiled.

The Doctor nodded and went back to the controls, “we’re almost there,” he informed them, “this is going to be tricky.”

“How so?” David asked.

“Our first parting was on a very barren landscape, I need to park the TARDIS out of sight and stay hidden,” the Time Lord replied.

“Does it stir up painful memories, reliving this?” David inquired his voice soft.

“Nah!” The Doctor replied, his voice full of false cheer, “I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” David wasn’t letting it go; he could tell the Time Lord was troubled.

The TARDIS landed and The Doctor used that as an excuse to not answer him, instead he ran around the console, grabbed his coat and took off out the doors without another word.

After the door shut David turned back to John, “what was that all about?”

John, who had been watching The Doctor’s mad flight out the door, rolled his eyes, “if you don’t admit you have a problem, if you pretend you’re hunky-dory instead of being honest with yourself, then you don’t have to deal with it.”

“Where are we?” David crossed to the small windows and tried to peer out. The view was not enhanced by the fog swirling around the TARDIS or the big boulders she was parked between.

“The first goodbye,” John mused, “oh…he’ll be a barrel of laughs when he returns…”


	10. Chapter 10

The monitors picked up the blue box's arrival. This is where they had planned to grab the female, and put an end to this before she could reproduce. They were standing at the ready, and then the Time Lord appeared.

He sat back with a cry of frustration. A human's life ending would not even register a blip on the radar, but the disappearance of a Time Lord?

He was seriously conflicted; he had liked the hybrid when he had met him before the war. He seemed like a decent sentient being, but little did he know then that this friendship would be the end of the very reason for his race's existence.

What use were warriors when there was no war?

Maybe, he mused, maybe it is time to confront him face to face, stop playing with the threads of time, quit plucking strings from his material of life, and speak to him as one rational being to another. The coward's way was not working, it felt cheap and dirty.  
He rose, resolved to end this charade once and for all. As he dressed in his finest armaments and battle gear, he knew he faced a fight unlike any he had experienced before. He must convince someone to go against their very nature, or kill a friend.

Before leaving to face his foe, he knelt at a small altar and offered a prayer to the gods that Just David would listen to his pleas.

\-----------

From his hiding place behind a copse of boulders The Doctor’s hearts clenched as he witnessed Violet’s breakdown. He saw his past self leaving her alone on the beach, without seeming to give her a second thought. He hadn’t looked back on that moment until now, yet he knew what had happened. He just didn’t expect it to knife through him and make that pain feel so fresh.

The urge to rush up to her and take her into his arms and she knelt in the wet sand crying her very soul out, was strong but he knew better than to cross into his own time lines, so he waited and watched.

“Where are you?” he whispered looking around for whoever had been tearing through David’s life lines like a bull in a china shop. This was not graceful or delicate work that was being done it was heavy handed, ill conceived and frankly amateurish. But still it was proving remarkably effective.

Before he could spot the perpetrator he felt the cold metallic sensation of a gun being pressed to his temple, “you will rise,” a voice commanded.

The Doctor stood up slowly, and turned to face the holder of the weapon. His eyes grew wide as he saw who was standing there, “well this is a surprise,” he sighed with a disappointed expression on his face, “and I thought you were a peaceful race.”

“Times change,” the other shook his head sadly, “we were attacked, and we fought back. Soon the fight became our reason to continue.”

“So if David brings peace….” The Doctor started.

“Then our reason is gone. Now you will take me to your ship and we will settle this once and for all.”

“And if I don’t?” The Doctor challenged.

“We have agents poised at every important event in Just David’s life, we will find the correct one to stop him for good, not just alter his future but making sure he was never made in the first place.”

“You made a pact of friendship with him!” The Doctor protested, “your people do not do that lightly! And now you’d kill him, just because you can’t wrap your tiny little minds around change?”

This made the being pause, The Doctor could see the hesitation in his eyes and allowed himself a moment of hope that he had gotten through to him. But the weapon was not lowered and the resolve snapped back into the other’s eyes after a moment.

“I will not be swayed,” came the reply, “what is one life weighed against the lives of thousands of my race?”

“And warfare is saving lives?” The Doctor shot back.

“Not individual lives, but more a life style,” the other clarified.

“I won’t let you harm him,” The Doctor snarled.

“I would prefer it does not come to that. But if it does, then I will do so you will not stop me.” With that he gestured for the Time Lord to walk towards the TARDIS, “the time is at hand, let’s hope he makes the right decision."


	11. Chapter 11

They approached the TARDIS in silence, but before getting within a metre of it, The Doctor stopped, "I will not let you into my ship," he told the Cohalk, his eyes dark and his posture unyielding.

"Then have Just David come out," the Cohalk replied.

"That can't happen either," The Doctor replied, "due to what you've done so far to his history if he steps one foot out of the TARDIS he falls ill. When he stepped all the way out and he almost died."

The Cohalk looked at him unblinkingly trying to decide if this was the truth or The Doctor was stalling for time, "then we will bring your vehicle onto our ship, we will protect him so that he may talk with us."

"You could have saved yourself a lot of bother if you had just done that from the beginning," The Doctor informed him.

"You underestimate us," the Cohalk protested, "you do not think we didn't try that already? We went into the future, just before the events that we are trying to stop..."

"And you failed to convince him," The Doctor nodded, finally catching on.

"We tried but he wouldn't listen," the Cohalk shook his head sadly.

"That's my boy," The Doctor smiled.

"Like you, he only saw the peace as a good thing," the Cohalk continued.

"You're making a mistake," The Doctor shook his head sadly, "there is so much more you can do with your lives then wage war. War isn't a life style, war is death, the end of life! It creeps into your soul and you become lesser for the experience."

"Now you sound like him," the Cohalk's voice grew cold, "enough talking. Time to end this now." With that he pulled out a small black box from a pouch slung over one hip, and gave it a squeeze. As he did this a series of loud beeps emitted from it.

\-----------

Inside the TARDIS the silence that had fallen between John and David was interrupted by a loud beeping sound.

"What is that?" John stood up looking around the room.

"I don't know," David replied, "it sounds like it's coming from up there," he pointed up towards the upper ramps.

They followed the sound and isolated it to David's room, "I hope the smell has gone," David gestured towards the closed door, "we had a flower fire a while ago."

John frowned in confusion, "a flower fire?"

"The TARDIS has been filling my room with violets and then she set them on fire," David explained.

"Subtle," John laughed humourlessly, "she has a way of getting her message across one way or an another."

David opened the door, and the beeping grew louder, "it's coming from the closet," he called over his shoulder as he approached the closet with caution. He opened the doors and isolated the sound, it was coming from a small satchel on one shelf. Opening it he held up a small black box, "this is the thing making all the noise."

John held his hand out and David gave him the device. "This is a Cohalk communication device," John said, "how did you come to be in possession of it?"

David recounted the tale of meeting the Cohalk ending with, "and he gave me this telling me if I ever needed to contact him, to just press the sides..."

John handed it back, "they don't give these out lightly, they are traditionally a pretty standoffish race, they keep to themselves. He must have thought pretty highly of you. The one you had contact with, horns or no horns?"

"He had horns," David replied.

"Then he wasn't nobility," John informed him, "there are two distinct branches, the nobles have bred the trait out, they have residual nubs but not the elaborate horns of the lower caste."

No sooner had he gotten that explanation out when the beeping stopped, he handed it back to David, "I don't think that was meant for you. It picks up all transmissions in the area."

The TARDIS swayed and tilted, "we're moving!" John looked incredulous as he hung onto the bed post to stop from falling, "how is that even possible?" he shouted over the klaxon alarm as the sound grew to deafening levels.

"I don't know!" David yelled over the noise, "but I'm guessing it's not good!" he held onto the closet door as the room seem to rock back and forth.

Then the lights flickered out and they were thrown into complete darkness and a very eerie quiet fell over the TARDIS.


	12. Chapter 12

he Doctor waited in the cargo area as the TARDIS was beamed aboard the Cohalk's ship, leaning against one wall, saying nothing.

"You will open it now," the Cohalk ordered.

"Um...no," The Doctor replied slowly, "you forget I never actually agreed to do anything along those lines."

If it was possible for a Cohalk to do a slow burn, this one did. He waited a moment, clearly weighing his options before deciding his next move, "we will have no choice but to continue our actions if you do not convince Just David to come out."

"I can ask him, but I can't make him, and if he doesn't, you're sunk mate because I won't force him to do anything," The Doctor's tone was quiet and very dark, "and since you aren't going in, I have to, so you just need to wait out here."

"Your ship is bolted in with deadlock sealed clamps, you will not be able to leave," the Cohalk informed him.

"Yes, I saw that," The Doctor gestured towards the devices, "I'm going in now, see ya!"

Hearing the door open John and David peered over the railing, "you can come out now!" The Doctor laughed up at them.

"Care to fill us in on what's going on?" David asked as he approached the Time Lord.

"Found out who's been mucking with your time line," The Doctor started.

"The Cohalks," John finished for him, earning a scowl from his twin.

"The Cohalks," The Doctor continued as if John hadn't spoken, "remember that one you met when The Master tried to sell you off? He's been tasked with stopping you from..." then his voice trailed off.

"Stopping me from what?" David asked.

The Doctor was clearly trying to not reveal too much, but yet think of a way to warn David about the events to come.

"Just tell him!" John snapped, his patience level reached.

"Stay out of this!" The Doctor snarled at him, "this has nothing to do with you."

"I think it does," John stepped forward menacingly, "they've taken Violet, my wife and now are threatening my son! You may have decided I'm not worthy of your concern, but unlike you I care about the people I love."

That seemed to open a flood gate of hostility. Voices became raised. The tension was rising inside the TARDIS to almost unbearable levels so rather than try to mediate, once again, David walked unnoticed to the doors and opened them. Balancing on the threshold he put one foot out cautiously, to be sure he wouldn't fall ill again. When nothing happened he stepped all the way out and shut the doors behind him.

As he emerged he heard the distinct sound of many guns being armed, he put his hands up to show he was unarmed, "I got the impression you wanted to talk to me," he spoke hoping his heart would stop hammering in his chest.

Inside the TARDIS John was the first to notice David had left. The Doctor was still in full rant mode telling him off for past, present and future offences, so he held up his hand, "would you shut up a moment?" he asked the red faced Time Lord.

The Doctor stopped, a bit shocked at the calm tone and the look on John's face. He took a deep steadying breath, "I wasn't finished," he complained.

"Yeah I could tell! You were gusting up to 100 kilometres a minute for a bit. You can tell me more about why I am so horrid later," John replied, waving him off dismissively, "have you noticed we're one person short?"

The Doctor looked uncomprehendingly at him for a moment, then it dawned on him what John had just said, "oh no!" he groaned. He ran to the window, through one of the small panes of class he saw an army of Cohalks guns raised pointing at something just out of his line of sight.

"Why didn't he wait for us?" The Doctor turned to John, his eyes filled with a pained expression.

"Because we were too busy acting like children, in desperate need of a nap or a thrashing, or both," John replied with a sigh.

The Doctor nodded by way of admitting his part in it all, "we have to get him out of there," he gestured towards the door, "but we can't just go blundering out, this needs to be strategically planned."

"Agreed," John shrugged, "what's the game plan?"


	13. Chapter 13

David began to regret his actions as they got closer to the main deck of the ship, and many pairs of red eyes seemed to glare at him. His approach made all the assembled Cohalks grow silent, he fought the urge to wave at the ones perched on the upper decks as they bent over the sides to stare down at him.

He was led to a small room off of the larger one and forced to kneel in front of a variation of Cohalk he hadn't seen before. "Not, that I've seen more than one," he sighed to himself. This Cohalk was smaller than the one he had met, and didn't have horns. Instead the hair around where the horns should have been, was slightly raised but held in place to stop it from sticking up by what looked to be a fairly ornate accessory.

"I understand that you wanted to talk to me?" David asked.

One of the Cohalks that had led him to this room raised a hand like he was going to cuff David for talking out of turn but the figure on the throne stopped him, "we are sorry for meeting under these circumstances," the voice trilled.

David's eyes widened, this speaker was quite obviously female. The Queen? he wondered.

"We have heard of your kindness and know you were considered a friend to the Cohalks, so we know you will give us a chance to speak freely and perhaps we can come to an understanding," she continued.

"I don't really get what it is I'm supposed to do some time in the future that makes me..." David stopped. It finally dawned on him. The article he had seen about making peace between alien races, the one alien in the photo was quite obviously this Cohalk. Or one who looked just like her. He swallowed hard, "so special..." his voice trailed off.

The Queen gave a snort that he remembered was how the Cohalks laughed, "you understand now, I can see it in your eyes."

"I'm still new to this whole time travel thing," David replied, "so you're undoing my past to stop me from doing something in the future that at the present I am not exactly sure I even have the first clue what I did or will do?"

She thought about what he had said for a moment, "yes," she nodded, "we tried talking to you before the summit but we could not persuade you to step aside and let us continue our war."

"That sounds like me," David smiled sadly, "but why would you not want to end it?"

"Our civilisation has grown in the years since the war began," she explained, "before we were a backwater planet, little more than a farming community with a bit of space travel only as a way of selling our produce or trading with other planets."

With that she rose from her throne and looked out the window, "now we are on the cutting edge of technology. We have grown in might and have taken our rightful place in the universe."

"You don't have to lose the technology or advances you've made just because you've stopped fighting," David protested, "the two are not mutually exclusive! My home planet made advances that kept on moving forward even in times of peace."

"We know of your home planet," the Queen turned back from the window, "humans are never truly at peace. That is why we appeal to you to understand our position, your race are warriors at heart too."

David gave her words some thought, "not all of us," he countered, "it's true that there are always conflicts on Earth but I think at heart most of the inhabitants would rather be free of conflict. It's rarely sought out. But think of how much more you could accomplish if you weren't expending so much energy in warfare?"

The Queen regarded him, her eyes seeming to jump with fire, "this is getting us no where. Clearly you will not listen to reason," she nodded toward two of the guards, they grabbed an arm each and hauled David to his feet. Half carrying, half dragging him they set him in front of a screen.

"Your travel companions are trapped in that blue box," she pointed at the image of the TARDIS, "I have instructed my soldiers to place explosives around the parameter of that vessel and unless you can be reasonable, and call off your campaign of unwarranted peace making I will give the command to blow it up."

\------  
The Doctor heard the first explosive charge being fastened to the side of the TARDIS and pulling up the images on the monitor saw many more applied.

"This could be interesting," he mumbled.

John joined him, "they can't actually blow the TARDIS up, can they?"

"With that much explosive?" The Doctor gestured at the monitor, "hard to say, just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean it can't happen. The real issue is that if they try they will blow themselves up, so even if we're safe as houses in here..."

"David's out there," John finished for him.

"And," The Doctor continued, "they're guarding the door..."

"So we're stuck in here," John concluded.

The Doctor frowned at him, "that is really annoying."

"What?"

"You keep finishing my sentences for me!" The Doctor snapped, "that is getting on my nerves."

"Then talk faster," John shot back, "and I wouldn't have to."

The Doctor raised an eyebrow but didn't reply to that, instead he changed the subject, "we need to figure out where they've taken him," he tapped the screen, "and our best way of getting all of us out of here!"


	14. Chapter 14

The guards tightened their grip on David's arms, and hauled him over to a chair, shoving him down on to it. Then they stood on either side of him, holding him in place.

The Queen approached, "we had hoped to not be forced to do this," she sighed, "we had hoped by changing your basic foundation you would become something more reasonable. But now our only choice is..." she nodded at another Cohalk in the room, who approached with a long bladed weapon, "outright elimination."

The guard to his left yanked David's head back by grabbing his hair, and the blade was pressed against his neck, “this is your last chance,” the Queen informed him, “choose wisely.”

\------

“We could go out there guns blazing…” John started then laughed, “if we had any.”

“You’ve been hanging around your Earth’s Torchwood for too long,” The Doctor replied only half listening to John, “you sound like a cowboy.”

“There are some situations that call for guns,” John insisted, “you can’t talk your way out of everything!”

“I have so far, so history would argue against you there.”

“I still can’t believe you don’t have some sort of weapon on board,” John grumbled.

“All I need is up here!” The Doctor tapped his temple, “and for you to shut up a moment so I can get a thought in edgewise.”

John fell silent but not still, his nervous energy, the urge to do something instead of just sitting around talking about it was driving him mad. For the millionth time (or so it felt) he marvelled that as much as he looked like The Doctor, underneath they were so very different.

“Got it!” The Doctor shouted. He glanced up to where John had been last time he had seen him but saw only an empty chair. He stood up and looked around the console room and saw the door at the back was open.

Walking down the corridor The Doctor heard noises coming from one of the storage rooms, he poked his head into the room, “what are you doing?”

John was on his knees opening crates and boxes and rummaging through the contents, “I remember seeing a sword in here, you took it off of an Omach soldier…”

“I had it made into a frying pan,” The Doctor smiled, “it worked great until your wife fell asleep while doing a fry up and it burnt to a crisp.”

“You fashioned one of the most highly prized weapons in the known universe into cooking ware?” John straightened up and glared at The Doctor.

“And it was a highly prized pan,” The Doctor laughed.

“Makes me wonder how you made it past your teens,” John dusted his hands off and leaned against one wall, “so, in absence of anything more than our brains, what is your great plan?”

“I’m going to reason with them,” The Doctor replied, “they’re convinced that they will have no future and will be plunged into the dark ages if the warfare stops.”

“They seem a bit beyond reasoning,” John gestured at the wall, “in case it’s slipped your mind they have ringed the TARDIS with bombs, and are holding David hostage.”

“I have to give them a choice,” The Doctor insisted.

“A choice?” John snorted, “great choices! They give up everything they know as far as a life, or disregard your advice, and kill us all!”

“Do you ever want to see Violet again?” The Doctor interrupted the other man’s rant.

“Of course I do!” John replied.

“Then this is your only option,” The Doctor spoke softly, “it may not seem like it now, but this is your best chance in getting her back. Trust me.”

The Doctor leaned towards John, his eyes searching the other man’s face, “you do trust me don’t you?”

John sighed, “guess I have to.”  
\------

Holding himself very still David felt the edge of the blade just touching his skin. He held his breath in anticipation of the cold metal slicing into his throat.

The Queen was about to give the order to kill him, when one of the Cohalks at the back of the room stepped forward, “a thousand pardons,” he spoke, his ornate robes swishing as he walked, “but wouldn’t it be more effective and a morale booster for the troops to have the execution in public?”

“You are right,” The Queen smiled, “we will assemble tomorrow at dawn and give him one more chance to recant and then we will make an example of him.”

The guard lowered the blade with a clearly disappointed expression on his face, and sheathed it back in its holder.

“I promise you that you will taste blood tomorrow,” The Queen soothed, patting him on the shoulder.

Then she turned to David, “until tomorrow you are our guest, you are welcome to explore the city, with armed escorts of course. Never let it be said that we are not hospitable.”

Somehow that didn’t make David feel very cheered, but he rose from the chair, hoping his knees wouldn’t buckle, followed by two guards and made his way out of the throne room.


	15. Chapter 15

The Doctor opened the doors to the TARDIS cautiously, and peeked out, “looks like the coast’s clear,” he whispered.

“You still haven’t told me the game plan,” John tapped him on the shoulder, “what are we doing?”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, “we are not doing anything! I am going out there to talk to the Cohalks, alone. You’re staying here.”

“You’re kidding me!”

“I am not,” The Doctor assured him, “you are not going with me. I need to focus all my energy on the task at hand and not having to worry about you on top of everything else.”

“I can take care of myself,” John growled.

“You are about as subtle as a brick to the head! I can’t have you charging in there like a Judoon on shore leave, when diplomacy and a firm but gentle touch is what is needed,” The Doctor shot him a glare, “and that’s the end of it!”

“I am not just sitting here doing nothing!” John hissed keeping his voice low.

“I can’t have you getting captured too,” The Doctor replied, “if you want to be useful you can recalibrate the dematerialisers while I’m gone, but you have to stay in the TARDIS. This is something I have to do on my own.”

With that The Doctor crouched low and stepped out of the TARDIS shutting the door behind him leaving John alone, seething with anger and frustration.

John turned away from the doors after giving them a very immature but quite satisfying kick or two. Then taking several deep breaths he forced himself to calm down. Grabbing the box of tools he climbed under the console, and started tinkering with the dematerialisers as instructed. As he wrenched at a particularly baulky nut on the panel he tried not to picture knocking The Doctor over the head with the spanner.

\--------

The Doctor approached town square seemingly unnoticed. The milling crowds bustled and jostled him but no one gave him a second glance. Once or twice he looked down at his hands making sure he hadn’t suddenly become invisible. Not that he was prone to that, but it was beginning to feel that way. With a sigh of relief, he gained the palace doors without being seen.

Or so he thought.

What he didn’t realise was his approach was being captured on camera, and many high ranking Cohalks and their assembled armies were anxiously awaiting his arrival. Some more than others, as was evidenced by guns being cradled almost like long lost lovers and the licking of lips as if anticipating tasting something sweet.

“This will be sport,” one of the Cohalks whispered to his fellow, “how many of us can say we’ve ever hunted for a Time Lord?”

The Queen overheard this comment and strode up to them with great purpose, “you will be dismissed, we are not ruthless killers! We do not take lives for enjoyment. We do what we must for the greater good, not to satisfy a primal urge for blood lust!”

She gestured for her personal guards to disarm and remove the two soldiers from her sight, “he approaches,” she called out, “you will show the Time Lord your deepest respect and give him the honour he is due.”

The Doctor reached the throne room at that very moment, the heavy doors and thick stone walls acting as a sound barrier. Thus making any noise that would have alerted him that the room was, in fact, occupied sound far away. When he opened the door to find several rifles aimed directly at him, he was more than a little surprised.

He quickly raised his hands, in surrender, “guess I’m in the right place,” he muttered as the soldiers formed a phalanx around him, and ushered him into the room.

\--------

John had almost gotten the panel off when a spark leapt from the underside of the console and jolted him with a loud cracking noise.

"What the hell?" he yelped sitting up quickly, momentarily forgetting he was in a confined space he almost knocked himself out as his head hit the console. After running through all the swear words he knew in English and Gallifreyan he crawled out from under the TARDIS' control panel and stood up.

As he got to his feet the monitor on the console flickered into life, the scene showing was of The Doctor surrounded by many armed guards. The sound was off, but he could tell by the way the guards were looking at The Doctor, that the Time Lord was trying to talk them to death, or at the very least into a coma from sheer boredom.

John wiped his hands on a rag with a scowl on his face, "so who's going to rescue you?" he sighed at the image. Then cleaning the last of the grease from his fingers he addressed the empty room, "if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself!"

The guard heard the TARDIS doors opening as John stepped out of the time capsule, making no attempt to be quiet about it.

"Excuse me," John stepped forward holding out a bundle of wires and metal in one hand and a spanner in the other, "do you happen to have any experience with electric motors?" Then he thrust the greasy mess into the guard’s hands.

The Cohalk, with his gun still slung over his shoulder, looked down at the motor in confusion. He turned it around in his hands like he expected it to explode at any minute. By the time he looked up John had disappeared. Determined to not let on to his superiors about his gaff the Cohalk gently set the motor down next to the TARDIS and went back to his post.

John followed a troop of soldiers as they marched towards the palace; the hive of activity, plus the images he had seen on the monitor confirmed this was the right place. He took a moment to survey his surroundings and plan his next move

One of the soldiers lagged behind the others as they moved into the palace. John knew this was his best chance so he loped over to the fully armour clad Cohalk, "I think I just saw a three headed monkey, right over there!" he pointed up at the turret, inwardly wincing at this lame ruse.

To his amusement the Cohalk whipped around, removed his helmet to get a better view and looked up to where John was pointing. With a smile John bashed him on the head with the spanner, "sorry about that," he offered as the soldier dropped to the ground, "well, actually no, I'm not."

He dragged the limp form into the alley and started to strip off the unconscious Cohalk's armour. As he did so he could see Violet in his mind's eye laughing at his cleverness. His smile slipped a bit but he distracted himself with the task at hand, promising himself that if this didn't all work out the next recipient of a spanner treatment would be The Doctor.


	16. Chapter 16

David appeared to be wandering around without a real destination in mind, but seemingly determined to not dwell on his upcoming execution. Trying to be subtle about it, David had led the guards further away from the castle and towards the general direction he had last seen the TARDIS. 

More than once he wished the Cohalks at his side would remove their helmets so he could see what their expressions were, but they kept quiet and covered. Only their boot steps and occasional creak of leather broke the silence.

He wasn’t sure if he was being allowed to move freely about was some sort of misguided kindness or it was more like a cat playing with its prey. With the guards watching his every movement he felt a lot stronger about the latter being the case.

The town square was a vibrant and busy place; stalls selling the latest in armaments seemed to outnumber the ones selling less deadly merchandise. The sight of rows upon rows of guns and hand held explosive devices, lined up where by rights fresh fruits and vegetables should be displayed made David a bit depressed. His previous experience with a Cohalk had led him to believe they were one of the more gentle races, and having them turn into this…he shook his head, sadly.

This wasn’t how he had pictured dying, he smiled wryly. Being executed on an alien world for trying to bring peace and for something he hadn’t even done yet was a bit mind boggling. But he figured if he had to die, this was a good cause at least.

But he also knew that The Doctor was out there, doing whatever he could to save his life, and that thought alone kept him going in the face of what seemed like an unjust fate.

As they approached yet another stall filled with the materials of warfare, one of the guards was approached by a similarly clad solider, “you’re wanted at the palace,” the new guard told him, then took his place at David’s side.

This new guard seemed a bit thinner and taller than the one he had replaced, but David didn’t give it a lot of thought, obviously there would be some variation, surely not all Cohalks were identical.

They got to the edge of the market and off in the distance, tucked away behind a stone wall David could just make out the TARDIS. His heart leapt at the sight of the familiar blue box. If he could just get within a few yards of her he knew he could get inside to safety. He stole a glance at the guards, hoping they were not seeing what he saw, or if they did they wouldn’t recognise her, but the black visors hid their eyes from him.

A small Cohalk ran up to one of the guards, holding out a basket. The guard stopped and bent down to speak to it; obviously this was a child and perhaps this guard’s offspring?

The other guard put a restraining hand on David’s shoulder, stopping him from walking away without them. David turned to try to talk to the guard, but as he did the other lifted his visor and a pair of very dark brown eyes became visible. Eyes that looked identical to David’s. Then one of the eyes winked at him, as a finger was pressed to his lips.

David bit back a smile, and gave a quick nod of acknowledgement as the visor was lowered again. 

Trying not to stare David tried to work out, as they continued their meanderings, if the suit wearer was The Doctor or John. Watching the way the other man walked, hand casually holding a gun, and the more military stature he came to the conclusion it was not The Doctor. Even in disguise the Time Lord would never be able to get past his inversion to weaponry, John seemed to have no such issues. 

Just as they got within a few yards of the TARDIS the communication devices on both of David’s escorts went off. The Cohalk held it to his ear momentarily, then turned to David and what he thought was his fellow soldier, “we are being recalled, we must return to base.”

David hesitated, fairly itching to take off in a dead run towards the time machine, but John grabbed his arm, “you heard him,” he growled, “don’t try anything or we will have to shoot you.”

David shot him a confused look but not wanting to blow John’s cover he obeyed. The Cohalk was a bit in front of them when John deemed it safe to explain his actions, “they have The Doctor held prisoner in the main rooms of the palace, if you escape now it’s pretty likely they’ll take it out on him,” he spoke in a low whisper, leaning in very close to David, “this is our opportunity to get him out…”

“Or get us all killed,” David replied.

“Optimistic aren’t you?” John laughed, “have some faith.”

“If you get us out of here, I promise to be optimistic afterwards,” David sighed.

“Deal!” John chuckled, “I may just keep this outfit, I think it suits me. Come on; time to shake things up a bit!”


	17. Chapter 17

The Cohalk guard heard David and John talking, so he doubled back, “is he giving you a hard time?” he asked.

“He was trying to bribe me into letting him go,” John jabbed the butt of the gun into David’s side causing the actor to wince, “but I think he understands that’s not going to happen!”

The Cohalk nodded, satisfied that all was under control and headed out again.

“That hurt!” David whispered as he rubbed his ribs.

“Sorry,” John chuckled, “got into the part, I’m sure you know how that is…”

David grinned despite the pain, “yeah, just go a bit easier if there is a next time.”

They got to the palace and opened the door to the throne room. John bit back a snort as he could hear The Doctor still trying to reason with the Cohalks, “if you let me go I will talk to your enemies, see if I can reason with them…” his voice carried above the din.

John watched as one of the guards stifled a yawn and another looked like his hands fairly itched to use the truncheon at his side to stop the yammering Time Lord.

Deciding to have a bit of fun, John strode over to The Doctor and grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him off his feet, “why don’t you give our ears a break?” he growled, giving the Time Lord a little shake before setting him back down.

The shocked expression on The Doctor’s face and the barely stifled laugh coming from David, plus the relieved expressions from the Cohalks made it all worthwhile, John thought smiling widely under his visor.

Now that the incessant noise had eased the assembled Cohalks realised that the condemned man was amongst them again. As many pairs of hostile red eyes turned to him, David involuntarily took a step back. 

John clamped what would appear to be a restraining hand on David’s shoulder, but in fact was an attempt to reassure him. David let out a slow breath and got himself back under control. The urge to flee was over powering, but he fought it and forced himself to meet the eyes of the others in the room.

The Doctor glared at the soldier holding David in place, “can I have a moment, alone with him, please?” he kept his voice light but it was obvious he was not pleased.

The armoured figure stepped back leaving the two of them alone but carefully watching their every move.

“Are you all right?” The Doctor asked, looking into David’s eyes.

“As all right as someone who is getting executed in a few hours could be,” David smiled wryly.

“That is not going to happen!” The Doctor assured him.

“Do you have a plan, then?” David asked hopefully.

“Not as such,” The Doctor admitted after an awkward pause, “but I’m working on it.”

“May I respectfully request you work a bit faster?” David shot back, “according to that clock I have less than ten hours left.”

The Doctor looked up at the clock, “um….well. No. They don’t reckon time the same way you do. That isn’t strictly a one to one ratio.”

“Translation please?” 

“In Earth time you actually only have about six hours, well five and three quarters, and some change…” The Doctor frowned in concentration, “in terms of minutes it would be…”

“That’s close enough, I don’t want to spend my last hours alive trying to do maths,” David interrupted.

“Fair enough,” The Doctor laughed, “anyway that’s a moot point, you aren’t getting executed, not in five and three quarters hours, not in a million years, not ever.”

Noticing that the guard was standing very close behind them The Doctor whirled around, “since you are so keen on eavesdropping,” he hissed, “hear me now, I will not let you harm David, and I will stop you!”

The guard shrugged in apparent indifference, “so you keep saying,” the voice rasped from under the visor.

Hearing what he thought was a sigh from David, The Doctor turned back, “don’t give up on me; I promise you, you’ll get out of this alive.”

David quickly made his expression grave, trying to keep a straight face as John briefly lifted the visor and stuck his tongue out at The Doctor’s back. 

The mirth was interrupted at the commotion surrounding the Queen’s arrival. She swooped in with a rustle of robes and stopped right in front of David and The Doctor. Ignoring the Time Lord she looked deep into David’s eyes, “have you changed your mind?” she asked.

“No, I haven’t,” David replied meeting her gaze unblinkingly.

She nodded sadly, “make him ready,” she called to out, and then turning back to David she informed him, “you will be given a send off, a feast in your honour. At any point if you decide to listen to reason and save yourself in the process, let me know.”

With that she turned on heel and strode out of the room.


	18. Chapter 18

The banquet hall was impressive; most of the occupants were of the no-horn Cohalk variety which David had recently been told by John, meant that they were nobility. Aside from the clothing and the size differences between the females and males they all looked alike to David. He smiled wondering if all humans looked the same to them.

Even though he had been reassured, repeatedly, by The Doctor that no harm would come to him, the armed guards ringing the hall their guns trained on him and the lack of any obvious exits aside from the heavy door that clanged shut behind him, made him exceedingly nervous.

Looking back at his escorts he hoped that one of them was John but due to the armour and the visored helmets he couldn’t be sure. At least he wasn’t without someone familiar by his side; he soothed himself with that, as The Doctor joined him in the room.

“So is this like a last supper sort of thing?” David asked trying to keep his voice calm, even though his throat felt like it was closing up on him.

“Precisely,” The Doctor eyeing the tables piled high with food, “they don’t exactly take requests, they are still essentially herbivores, so no meat. But if you fancy any sort of fruit or vegetable or grain, etc., it’s all there.”

“What I’d fancy is getting the hell out of here,” David sighed.

“Working on it!” The Doctor shot back, “meanwhile let’s join the party!”

“I’m not really in the party mood,” David replied.

“But it’s in your honour!” The Doctor smiled, “how many of those do you get in a life time?” He grabbed David’s hand and dragged him towards the head table.

As they approached the seated nobility, including the Queen, rose from their seats bowing low in David’s direction. David stopped dead in his tracks, almost pulling The Doctor off his feet as the forward momentum abruptly halted.

“I can’t do this,” David whispered, mostly to himself.

The Doctor turned to him, “you have to play along, you have no choice!”

David back peddled, “no, I can’t!” with that he got out of The Doctor’s grip and broke into a dead run towards the door. The stunned silence was broken only by the loud crack of a gun being fired. Then the gasp of the crowd filled the room when David fell lifeless to the floor, as blood seeped out of his chest staining his tshirt in an ever widening circle of red.

The Doctor stood stunned; he looked first at the soldier who had fired the shot in complete horror and disbelief, then at the far-too-still form crumpled just mere centimetres from the door. The colour drained from his face as he ran, knelt down and cradled David in his arms.

With trembling fingers The Doctor felt for a pulse on David’s wrist, then his neck. After a moment he let out a cry of anguish that would have unfrozen even the most hardened hearts. Tears welled up in his eyes as he held David’s lifeless body to his chest, rocking him slowly as one do would to calm a fussing baby. 

The soldier lowered the still smoking gun as the Queen approached, she gestured at him to bend down a bit as she whispered something in his ear. He nodded and stepped away from the sad scene in front of him, blending into the crowd.

The doors opened and a team of what were obviously medics came rushing in, but The Doctor wouldn’t let go of David long enough for the medics do their work. One of them knelt down next to the Time Lord and put an arm around his shoulder, “we are sorry,” the Cohalk ventured, “this is not a fitting death for Just David. He deserved better.”

The Doctor glared at him, “you were supposed to be his friend!”

The Cohalk touched David briefly on the arm and looked back at The Doctor, “we will arrange a state funeral, with full honours…”

“No you won't! You've done enough already,” The Doctor hissed, eyes still brimming. With that he stood up, holding David in his arms, “now get out of my way!”

Seeing that the Time Lord was in no shape to convey the body back to his ship the Cohalk who had spoken to The Doctor ordered one of the soldiers to help him. One stepped forward and after a moment of debate The Doctor handed him the sad bundle and they walked in silence to the TARDIS.


	19. Chapter 19

They made their way to the TARDIS, the soldier still carrying the limp David in his arms. The Doctor's countenance seeming to show all his long years and his new grief weighing heavily on him. Gone was the spring in the Time Lord's step, he walked like an old man with shoulders slumped in misery. Only his dark eyes seemed to have any energy left in them as he met the stares of the Cohalks lining their trail back to the time capsule.

Slowly Cohalks fell in step, an impromptu funeral procession forming behind The Doctor. Then they singing started. At first it was only a low hum, then it grew louder. The sweet sad tune threatened to cause The Doctor to break down again, but he held his head up, staring straight ahead and quickened his pace. 

The soldier looked back twice seemingly startled by the growing followers but he didn't drop his bundle, even though he had to run to catch up to the Time Lord. 

The Doctor reached the TARDIS first, fishing the key out and opening the door. He seemed hesitant to allow the soldier inside but appeared equally disinclined to take David's body from him. After what seemed to be a moment's inner debating, he ushered the soldier inside and shut the door. 

The Cohalks gathered around the TARDIS. Some bold enough to peek into the windows but most maintained a respectful distance. The ones pressed closely to the glass were afforded the heart-rending sight of the soldier tenderly laying the still form on the jump seat and The Doctor removing his long coat to cover the body.

Some of the soldiers swiftly removed the explosives from the TARDIS and after carefully disarming them, joined in the singing. The song filled the console room as the TARDIS started to dematerialise and the Cohalk paid their final respects.

"You two ever pull something like that again and I will kill you myself!" The Doctor shouted as soon as the TARDIS was safely out of Cohalk air space.

John pulled off his helmet, smiling at The Doctor, "good bit of acting on your part, I really bought that whole tears thing."

"That was pretty impressive," David sat up, pulling The Doctor's coat off of himself, and looked down at his shirt front, "if I had thought this through I would have worn a different one, this is ruined."

The Doctor didn't look very sympathetic, "I get the gun effect, you obviously used a blank..." he gestured at John, "but the blood? Where did that come from?"

David lifted his shirt, "it's real blood, mine. I just jabbed myself with a knife I grabbed off of the banquet table as we came in, it's superficial."

"Admit it," John smirked, "we had you fooled at first."

The Doctor snorted, but said nothing as he rummaged under one of the grates and handed David a first aid kit.

"He won't admit it," John turned to David with a smile, "but we did have him going for a bit."

John removed the gloves, "and those bullets weren't blanks, I didn't have time to find any, those were live rounds, I shot above his head," he made a gesture like shooting a gun at David, "luckily I missed him."

"You fired a live bullet at David? Are you insane?" The Doctor queried, stepping in dangerously close to the other man.

"I didn't hit him, I'm a very good shot!" John protested, "I knew what I was doing. We had this all planned out in advance, nothing could go wrong!"

David applied a bandage to his cut and pulled his shirt back down, "and it worked, didn't it?"

The Doctor was looking at the monitor, "it would appear so. By you 'dying' it put a face on the war. They never realised how devastating it was to those not directly involved. Like when bombs are dropped on an enemy village, the civilians there die too. You personified that, someone they respected, someone who was completely innocent in the conflict..."

He pulled up the archived news articles, again blocking the view from David, and quickly scrolled through them, "and now they're going back and fixing what they did. Your time lines are reworking back to what they should be."

"So at some point they're going to realise I'm not really dead?" David asked.

"They'll put it down to what they did to repair the damage they caused," The Doctor waved at the monitor dismissively, "only one Cohalk knows different."

John frowned, "come again?"

"The one who befriended you, Just David," The Doctor smiled, "he was one of the medics, he touched your arm when you were 'dead', he knows you're alive..."

John picked up the gun again, "then he has to be taken out!"

David put a hand on John's shoulder, "he won't tell anyone."

"How do you know that?" 

"I just do," David smiled.

John looked unconvinced but set the gun down and started to strip off the armour, after he was mostly done he looked up with a wide smile, "we're forgetting the most important thing!" he laughed.

"What's that?" David asked.

"If everything's back to normal, whatever that may be, then Violet's back!" John chortled, then his smile slipped, "and I'm going to get holy hell for just disappearing on her without explanation."

The Doctor grinned widely at him, "she can be a force to be reckoned with," he nodded, "tell you what I'll do...I'll get you back the same day. Early enough so she'll still be asleep, she'll never know you were gone."

John sighed in relief, "thanks," then looking at the pile of armour, "where do you want this stuff?" 

The Doctor looked at the armour, "you never know when something like that could come in handy, put in in the attic, in the military wardrobe closet." 

John scooped up the armour and bounded up the stairs. Waiting until he was completely out of sight David approached The Doctor, "sorry we upset you," he started.

"I'm fine," The Doctor replied, not meeting David's gaze.

"You had real tears in your eyes," David pressed on.

"You aren't the only actor in the family," The Doctor protested, "you got that talent from me!"

Looking up The Doctor realised he wasn't fooling anyone, "OK at first when the shot rang out and you fell, I did think it was real, the blood was an especially nice touch, but no matter how good of an actor you are, you can't stop your pulse on cue."

"And you've lost enough people you love that you know how horrible it feels..." David's voice was soft.

"Right...." The Doctor exhaled slowly, his dark eyes pools of pain for a moment. Then in a flash, he quickly changed the mood by running around the console, setting controls, "time to get John home before Violet skins him alive! Alternate Earth! Allons-y!"


	20. Chapter 20

"Where to next?" David asked, slipping on a less sticky tshirt. This one featured an outline of a rabbit on it.

"I think you should get to choose again," The Doctor smiled, "your last choice, what's the popular phrase? Oh yes, your last choice 'sucked'!"

David laughed, "yeah it really did. So, instead of the future, how about the past?"

The Doctor's hand hovered over the controls, "how far back?" he prompted his eyes glittering with excitement.

"Hmm..." David hummed in thought, "what would you suggest?"

"No, no, " The Doctor wagged a finger at him, "you choose, I'm just going along for the ride!"

"Right....OK how about Rome at the height of the Roman Empire?" 

"They did have some pretty spectacular baths, and I could use a good soak," The Doctor smiled.

"Can we?" David grinned like a school boy.

"Of course!" The Doctor's expression mirrored David's, "you'll want to change before we land. I'm not sure that outfit is appropriate."

"Are you going to change too?" 

"Nah, I blend in no matter where I go," The Doctor laughed.

"Sure you do," David countered.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, choosing not to argue the point he instead pointed up, "the wardrobe room fourth closet from the end, should be something for you to wear in there. Come down once you're ready!"

\--------

John watched her sleeping for a while before he slipped into bed with a smile. Violet was laying half on her stomach holding a pillow to her bosom The minute she sensed his presence she rolled over and put her head on his chest, "where have you been?" she murdered her voice raspy from sleep.

"I went for a little walk," John replied, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"I hate when you're not here," Violet grumbled.

"I do too," John laughed.

Violet smiled sleepily and nestled in closer to him, John stroked her hair. She twitched a bit in her sleep as the faint sound of the TARDIS taking off could be heard through the open window by their bed. 

As much as he missed the traveling and the excitement, John knew that the place he belonged was here and now, he kissed Violet's head and closed his eyes. Just before falling asleep he pictured The Doctor and David in the TARDIS and wished them a safe voyage to wherever they were off to next.


End file.
